Insecurity fans spread of pneumonic plague in Congo

Medical charity Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) urged its international partners to help contain an outbreak of the highly contagious pneumonic plague in north-eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that has already killed 22 people, but where insecurity is fanning the spread of the disease.

"We urgently need all actors present in the field who have the capacity to conduct active searches for suspected cases and identification of individuals in contact with suspected cases to mobilize resources," said Jerome Souquet, MSF Head in Ituri district.

"Otherwise, we risk being confronted with an outbreak spiralling out of control. We have already seen the epidemic outbreak spreading to new areas in the last few days," Souquet said.

Continuing insecurity in the central African country's volatile north-eastern regions makes it difficult for health-workers to trace infected locals, many of whom are scattered around the thickly forested region, in attempts to avoid armed groups that roam the area.

Souquet said that while the World Health Organization (WHO) was instrumental in issuing an alert for the latest outbreak in early June, he urged the UN body and local health authorities to scale up activities.

Repeated efforts to get comment from WHO proved unsuccessful.

MSF is currently treating 144 patients and have deployed medical teams to set up isolation centres in two new districts in a bid to cope with the increasing number of new cases.

The charity fears that if there is no rapid containment of the outbreak, it risks spreading to five areas in the Rethy district, inaccessible due to insecurity. Some 100,000 people live in the outbreak area.

"An extension of the outbreak to areas where access is rendered difficult could have alarming consequences on the health situation," Souquet added.

Pneumonic plague is endemic to the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo where sporadic outbreaks are known to occur.

Patients have a good chance of recovery if treated rapidly with antibiotics, but this highly virulent respiratory disease can lead to high fatalities if left untreated.